Ban strongly condemns ISIL beheading of US journalist

TEHRAN, Sept.3 (MNA) – The United Nations Secretary General has condemned ISIL for apparent beheading of a journalist. Ban Ki-Moon described the apparent beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff by the ISIL group as 'brutal'. "Those perpetrators must be brought to justice," he said. He said on Wednesday the world was 'outraged' at the apparent beheading of a second US journalist in a video released by ISIL. "We are all outraged at reports from Iraq about the brutal killing of civilians by ISIL, including yesterday's reported brutal beheading of another journalist," he said after the video purporting to show the death of US journalist Steven Sotloff was posted online. Mr Sotloff, 31, who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, had last been seen in Syria in August 2013 until he appeared in a video released online last month by the Islamic State group that showed the beheading of fellow American journalist James Foley. Mr Sotloff was threatened in that video with death unless the US stopped airstrikes on the group in Iraq. In the latest video entitled "A Second Message to America," Mr Sotloff appears in a jumpsuit before he was purportedly beheaded by an ISIL fighter.